The grudge that people can develop with Square games are like wounds that never heals.

HAHA well said. I hope they don't die out, they are my childhood, literally. But man... the direction that they are going with the series right now, it's crazy. Personally I'm finding myself currently making the switch to western rpgs > jrpgs, but it still saddens me.

I hope they don't die out, they are my childhood, literally. But man... the direction that they are going with the series right now, it's crazy.

Not at all really. The evolution of the main series while troubled it has always been organic, and realistically speaking trying please everybody with a long-running franchise with generations and generations of fans is something close to impossible to achieve.

Saw some of the gameplay and design on AngryJoe's Top 20 for 2014 the other day.

Completely skipping this one. ~_~; Irritating people are even calling it an RPG (even though I know the term is so diluted these days that pretty much anything qualifies). If I want to play KH meets Devil May Cry I'll go play either of those games. If I want an RPG I want something turn based. IP System, Grid-Based, RTB System, heck I'll even take the good-for-not-much Command Synergy Battle System in its infancy from XIII before I'll touch this one. XP

Doesn't help the all male main cast turns me off completely. That alone guarantees the characterization's going to blow chunks given the track records of Shonen plots.

I already knew most of this stuff but is worth sharing since there are a lot of dense mofos out there who don't want to give XV even the benefit of the doubt because of all the noise that happened with XIII and (most notably) XIV.

Completely skipping this one. ~_~; Irritating people are even calling it an RPG (even though I know the term is so diluted these days that pretty much anything qualifies). If I want to play KH meets Devil May Cry I'll go play either of those games. If I want an RPG I want something turn based. IP System, Grid-Based, RTB System, heck I'll even take the good-for-not-much Command Synergy Battle System in its infancy from XIII before I'll touch this one. XP

I find it funny you say this, since in Kitase's latest comment he mentioned considering making the character customization as complex as FFXII's with multiple characters being customized to act in the way you want them to all at the same time.

I think you're jumping to conclusions here. Very irrational conclusions.

Completely skipping this one. ~_~; Irritating people are even calling it an RPG (even though I know the term is so diluted these days that pretty much anything qualifies). If I want to play KH meets Devil May Cry I'll go play either of those games. If I want an RPG I want something turn based. IP System, Grid-Based, RTB System, heck I'll even take the good-for-not-much Command Synergy Battle System in its infancy from XIII before I'll touch this one. XP

Implying that only turn-based games can be called RPG's is... kind of archaic, yeah?

Kinda yes kinda no.

Bit of a parallel example here.

-Say I enjoy playing Tabletop RPGs about Space Marines.-I get invited to play a game.-Turns out the game is at a Laser Tag arena with 'HP' built into the sensor armor and your light guns have different effects based on a pre-selected class to mimic the system.-I'm going to be disappointed.

Why?

Yes, it's basically the same game in terms of what's happening.Yes, it's basically got the framework of the game I wanted to play.Yes, in it's own right, this game is fun.

But that's not what I want when I'm looking for a Tabletop game.

I want to sit down, casually chat with friends, roll dice, write things down with paper and pencil. Not running around in a glowy cage shooting 'real' weapons. That's LARPing, not Tabletoping.

So, when I look for an RPG I look generally for a turn based experience. There are some exceptions but the line becomes really really muddled at times. I.E: With an ARPG I want a heavier emphasis on meaningful, tactical combat that just happens to execute it's movements in real time; not a Beat 'Em Up/Action hybrid that calls itself a RPG just because it makes the HP and Damage numbers visible. This is just personal perception here. I know full well the industry/public in general doesn't operate by that standard.

I'm hoping that 15 will be a fantastic game. Final Fantasy has lost its touch over me and I think I'll be leaving the old franchise on my shelf if it doesn't deliver. I have played different RPGs in the last few years that are much better!